Doogee S95 Pro Super - Rugged Modular Phone Review - IP69K Waterproof Heavy Duty Smartphone
The Tech Travel Geeks’ Lukasz reviews the Doogee S95 Pro rugged modular smartphone. Want to know what he thought about the build quality, performance, cameras and added modules? Watch the embedded video or read the blog post with sample photos and videos
On the Tech Travel Geeks Youtube channel we unboxed the Doogee S95 Pro a few months ago, and had also unboxed the device when we visited their offices in Shenzhen. I’ve been using the Dooogee S95 Pro on and off since then, but I moved my SIM card from the Huawei P30 Pro to it a few weeks ago to properly review it.
You can buy the Doogee S95 Pro Super kit on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2T0NQdt
Want to know what I thought about the build quality, performance, cameras and added modules? Watch the video below or continue reading to find out, and make sure to subscribe to Tech Travel Geeks for more content like this.
Build quality
Doogee S95 Pro rugged smartphone
First of all, the phone is built like a tank. It’s a proper rugged phone with IP68 and IP69K certificates, which means that it can survive “powerful high-temperature water jets”. That’s thanks to industry-leading rubber on the back, which can survive a lot - so much so that it passed the MIL-STD-810G military environmental tests, and that certification isn’t easy to get.
It’s also thanks to the fact that all the ports like USB, SIM and microSD card are securely covered from any external factors.
We took it further though and wanted to see how much it can survive. The phone managed to stay on while being frozen and survived getting “liberated” with a hammer, which is amazing.
Doogee S95 Pro frozen in ice
But then we decided to see if the phone can survive being driven over by a Tesla. The first attempt, on the grass, seemed to be successful, with just some scratches on the screen protector. Unfortunately, the second attempt, on concrete, affected the phone quite significantly - initially the camera app wouldn’t open, and then the screen stopped working properly, getting ghost touches. Removing the screen protector didn’t help solve the issue unfortunately.
Friendly reminder - don’t get your phone run over by a Tesla
So, is the S95 Pro super durable? Yes. Should you drive over it with a car? Here at Tech Travel Geeks, we’d advise against it.
Due to all of this ruggedness, the phone is obviously quite heavy, clocking in at 285 grams. For comparison, my Huawei P30 Pro weights 192 grams, but that’s the price you have to pay for the ruggedness. You’ll also most likely need two hands to operate it.
Screen
Doogee S95 Pro is great for watching some Netflix
The front of the device is a 6.3 inch 1080 by 2246 pixel Full HD screen, making it 395 pixels per inch. It’s an IPS screen, so an LCD rather than OLED. The quality is decent and fine if you want to watch some YouTube videos or even some Netflix on the go, but don’t expect the quality or refresh rates seen on OLED screens in current smartphones. Luckily, it’s still bright and good for daily use.
Performance
You can even play Fortnite on the Doogee S95 Pro!
What really positively surprised me was the performance. Having been mostly using phones with high-end chipsets, I was a bit worried about using a MediaTek chipset. However, the octa-core 12nm Helio P90 chipset impressed me personally. The software experience in the everyday usage was great and with no slowdowns. Everything was really smooth.
I wanted to test it to its fullest and tried throwing all the high end games at it, and I could barely make it sweat. All the recent racing games Asphalt 8 and Asphalt Xtreme were really smooth, and the latest Asphalt 9 was easily playable, with just a bit of a performance hit, but nothing impacting the gameplay. The same with Need for Speed: No Limits or Crazy Taxi Classic. I then tried first person shooters, and Dead Trigger worked really well, PUBG was mostly good, with some minor slowdowns. I was even able to play some Fortnite, with just some minor slowdowns. Only thing to note is that some games took a bit longer to load, despite 8GB of RAM, but you only need a bit of patience, that’s all. Overall, for such a device, it definitely exceeded my expectations.
Speaking of memory, the phone comes with 128GB of storage, and supports microSD cards in case you want to expand it even further.
Software
Doogee S95 Pro running Android 9
The S95 Pro uses Android 9 and hasn’t received a major update in the last 6 months. What’s more worrying, though, is the lack of security updates. As of writing on 8th May, my device is still stuck on January 2020 update. That’s not great unfortunately, so keep that in mind.
Doogee’s launcher is rather basic and doesn’t have an app drawer, so I installed Action Launcher instead, as I personally struggle without the app drawer. However, the overall software experience was all right.
Battery life
Doogee S95 Pro’s 5150mAh battery is great
Another area that’s quite impressive is the battery life, as expected in such a device. The phone comes with a 5150 milliamp hours battery and it will last you a day of constant usage without any problems, and even more if you don’t use your phone as much as I do. If you’re planning to go mountain biking or on a hike, you’ll be sure that your phone is safe AND that the battery won’t run out before the day ends.
When it comes to charging, you have two options. You can use a USB-C cable and plug it in. According to Doogee’s website, it offers 24W “turbo quick charge”. You can also use 10W wireless charging, which is great for a rugged phone like this. In general, you shouldn’t have any battery issues with this device.
Connectivity
Doogee S95 Pro offers global 3G and 4G connectivity
When it comes to connectivity, you should be able to use the phone globally on most 3G and 4G networks, which is great. It supports dual SIM cards, so you can either have a work and personal number, or get a cheap SIM card while travelling. What’s more, it supports NFC, so you’ll be able to make wireless payments using Google Pay or similar, which is becoming more and more important right now.
Cameras
Doogee S95 Pro offers three cameras on the back and one on the front
As someone who loves taking photos, there’s one area which would make it difficult for me to use this phone as my only phone, and that’s the camera. On paper, all looks good - there’s a 48MP main lens with the same sensor as the Xiaomi Mi 9T, an 8MP wide-angle lens and an additional 8MP sensor, as well as an LED flash on the back, and a 16MP front-facing camera.
I managed to take a few good photos with the main lens, before we had to stay home. Here’s a beach in North Berwick in Scotland, Placa de Catalunya in Barcelona and some monument in Barcelona, all looking good.
However, if you take the same photos on the wide angle camera, the colours shift towards red and the photos get darker, become pixelated and are unfortunately unusable.
Unfortunately, it’s the same with the zoom lens - here’s the Arc de Triomphe on the main camera, which looks good, but then the wide angle becomes dark and pixelated, and the 2x zoom looks like an oil painting, losing detail.
The night mode was actually quite good, as per the Sagrada Familia photos I took. Again, as long as you stick to the main lens.
Two of my favourite photos were of food in Barcelona - I really miss travelling now :)
There’s also portrait mode and some shots are good, but it appears to be finding the middle of the image and blurs everything outside, so don’t use it on inanimate objects.
Selfies weren't great, but passable - oh, hi Matteo!
I also used the front facing camera for video calls with family with no issues, as well as to share some guitar practice with my teacher.
For video, you get 4K 30 frames per seconds, just be careful that it’s quite shaky, so I’d recommend stationary shots. The wide angle camera doesn’t work for video though, just main and 2x zoom. Luckily, the 2x video doesn’t seem to suffer from the same issue as photos - just look at this amazing guy in Barcelona!
Modules
Finally, let’s end on something very unique to the Doogee S95 Pro. If you look at the back, you can find a 16-pin connector. There are two optional modules which you can buy in addition to the phone and connect them to the device - a battery and speaker. Exciting stuff!
Doogee S95 Pro Super kit comes with the phone, a battery module and a speaker module
Let’s start with the battery. It attaches really easily, and it stays on really well. It has a cut out for cameras, so you can still use them while charging on the go. The battery has a capacity of 3500 milliamp hours, which means that it should charge around two thirds of the battery, or up to 10 hours. In our tests, we went from 20% to 70% in around 3 hours. I found the battery a really good idea, especially if you’re on the go and urgently need a top-up
Doogee S95 Pro battery module
The speaker module is a 6W one with two speakers, has a 2000 milliamp hour battery and should last up to 3 hours. You don’t need to connect to Bluetooth, it just works. The sound is great, it’s quite loud and can fill a room. My by far favourite function is the stand, which allows you to watch some YouTube or movies on the go without holding the phone.
Doogee S95 Pro speaker module with a stand
Summary
So, what are my thoughts about this phone? If you’re in the market for a rugged phone, this should be a great device for you. It has a great battery, surprisingly good performance, and if you go with the version with modules, the functionality of the phone will increase significantly. It can also survive almost anything. Just bear in mind that the cameras aren’t great and software updates are quite behind, so be cautious if those two things are important to you.
Thanks for watching this detailed Tech Travel Geeks review of the Doogee S95 Pro. If you enjoyed this video, make sure you leave us a like and a comment, and subscribe to our channel for more videos like this - click here to subscribe.
Check our Doogee S95 Pro unboxing videos:
Also, watch the Doogee S95 Pro comparison with the Doogee S68 Pro:
Xiaomi Mi 9T (Redmi K20) - All the Tech Travel Geeks videos
All the Xiaomi Mi 9T (Redmi K20) videos by the Tech Travel Geeks in one place: the review, the unboxing, the sample video and the case Matteo is using.
In July I ended up buying a Xiaomi Mi 9T from eGlobal Central and have been loving it since it was delivered.
Lukasz, our Chief Aperture Officer, and I have made a few videos for the Tech Travel Geeks YouTube Channel about the Xiaomi Mi 9T. It is now time to share them with you here on the website too.
We really enjoyed making these videos, and overall it is a device which has earned the honour of housing one of my main SIM cards.
Would you like to know more? Is there anything we haven’t covered and you have questions about? Reach out to us on Twitter, leave a comment on this post or on any of our YouTube videos. We are happy to geek out about this excellent device.
My UK Tesla Model 3 to be delivered on 29 June!
Excitement and expectation are building! My Tesla Model 3 is going to be delivered soon!
The long-awaited Right Hand Drive Tesla Model 3 is finally coming to the United Kingdom, and I was lucky to be among the first people invited to pick one up on the last weekend of June.
The Model 3 was officially announced back in March 2016 and started first limited deliveries in the US in July 2017. The deliveries continued in the US and Canada in 2017 and 2018, expanding to continental Europe in early 2019. However, the British order holders had to continue waiting patiently.
The first glimmer of hope came with Elon Musk’s tweet on 25th April, indicating that the order page would go live in May.
The things progressed from there, with the order page indeed opening on 1st May and full order details gathered on 17 May. A month later, CleanTechnica shared photos of a semi truck with a bunch of RHD Model 3s pictured in England and heading for distribution towards London.
Finally, a couple of days later, some reservation holders started getting invitations to pick their deliveries on 27th June. I originally ordered mine in November 2016 and received an invite to join the first batch of cars, but a friend of mine ordered in early 2017 and hasn’t received the invitation yet. Both orders are for Performance versions, so it looks like the priority is on the initial order date and reservation number.
Tech Travel Geeks will be there, so ensure you follow our news here and on YouTube. Expect a first impressions video and a full review coming soon.
Huawei P30 Pro - All the Tech Travel Geeks Content
All the Tech Travel Geeks content about the Huawei P30 Pro. So shiny! Such good camera! Very power efficient! WOW!
The Tech Travel Geeks Chief Mobile Opinionist was a guest of Huawei’s at the launch of the Huawei P30 Series in Paris, France. The Tech Travel Geeks Chief Aperture Officer liked the Huawei P30 Pro so much, he decided to get one himself (in another colour).
Here you will find all the videos we will create for the Tech Travel Geeks YouTube Channel.
Huawei P30 Pro Breathing Crystal Unboxing - Paris
Unboxed on the day of the announcement. So fresh!
Huawei P30 Pro First Impressions - Shiny Powerhouse
A masterfully edited and filmed video. Well done to Lukasz.
Huawei P30 Pro Smart View Flip Cover Unpackaging & First Impressions
Unpackaging the case to keep the device shiny.
Huawei Mate 20 Lite Review - Great Value 6.3" Tease
Matteo, our Chief Mobile Opinionist, reviews the Huawei Mate 20 Lite. Is it just a 6.3” tease of what Huawei is going to announce or is it a more than capable product in its own right?
We are in the middle of a frenzy of smartphone launches just before the holiday season. Huawei teased us at IFA 2018 in Berlin with the announcement of the Kirin 980 chipset we are likely to see powering the Mate 20 Pro. At IFA they also announced the Huawei Mate 20 Lite, which is a 6.3” tease of what we may see announced on October 16th in London.
This is the Tech Travel Geeks review of the Huawei Mate 20 Lite, which I am writing after more than two weeks of use, while at home in Edinburgh and travelling on a road trip on the West Coast of the United States of America. During that time the review unit of the Huawei Mate 20 Lite has been using a 3 UK SIM card with Feel At Home Roaming in the USA. The review device was provided by Huawei and will be returned.
Huawei’s Mate range is its second half of the year flagship portfolio, essentially their toc to their tic-toc annual device release. In recent years both the Huawei P Series (the tic) and the Mate Series (the toc) have had “Lite” variants, which share many of the design language and some of the software of the Pro versions. To keep the price in check and justify the “Lite” moniker there are some necessary trade-offs in terms of specifications or materials, but overall you get a premium mid-range experience as well as some premium image and branding.
Huawei Mate 20 Lite Technical Specifications
Display: 6.3” 1080 x 2340 pixels IPS LCD, 19.5:9 ratio (~409 ppi density)
Chipset: Hisilicon Kirin 710, Octa-core (4x2.2 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4x1.7 GHz Cortex-A53), Mali-G51 MP4 GPU
Operating System: EMUI 8.2 (Android 8.1)
4GB RAM, 64GB Storage (expandable with up to an extra 256GB with MicroSD)
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth 4.2 LE
GPS, GLONASS, BDS
FM Radio
Rear camera: 20 MP, f/1.8, 27mm (wide), PDAF with 2 MP, depth sensor
Selfie camera: 24 MP, f/2.0, 26mm (wide) with 2 MP, depth sensor
3750 mAh battery
Design
The Huawei Mate 20 Lite feels like a true premium device, with a glass sandwich industrial design where the edges are rounded and the front and back glass are gently curved into the edges. The review device we were provided with is described as sapphire blue, and is much less punchy or shiny than what we saw in the phantom blue Honor 10, but tasteful and pleasantly reflective.
The right side of the device is where you will find the power button and volume rocker. There is nothing too exciting about the left side, apart from the hybrid dual SIM or SIM and MicroSD tray which sits flush with the rest of the edge.
There is little to report of the top edge of the device too: just a microphone hole.
The bottom edge of the Huawei Mate 20 Lite is where all the action happens: you’ll find a microphone hole, speaker grille, USB Type-C charging and data port, and a courage port (3.5mm audio jack port).
The front of the device is dominated by the 6.3” notched FHD+ (1080x2340) display and some very slim bezels. No fingerprint reader here (it’s on the back), and the notch has a speaker, sensors and a dual-selfie camera setup (24MP + 2MP).
The back of the Huawei Mate 20 Lite is where you will find the dual-camera setup (20MP + 2MP), single LED flash and fingerprint reader. The camera and fingerprint reader are in vertical configuration, where there is some subtle striping to highlight the area embedded in the surrounding glass.
Overall the Mate 20 Lite is pleasant to hold, has a reassuring heft to it and is well balanced.
Performance & Experience
The performance of the Huawei Mate 20 Lite was excellent: throughout the fortnight using the device I noticed no slowdowns in heavy everyday use and gaming (Goat Simulator). I even used it to play Pokemon Go occasionally and had no issues and experienced good battery life. Huawei have done a good job here: the 12 nm Kirin 710 chipset is powerful and efficient. Paired with 4GB of RAM and EMUI’s resource management most users won’t really have any issues or know that this is a “Lite” device.
EMUI is Huawei’s Android distribution on the Mate 20 Lite. In this case it is EMUI 8.2, based on Android Oreo 8.1. At time of writing the review device had the July 2018 security patch.
As with previous Huawei and Honor devices, the launcher has a certain fruitiness to it by default, but it is relatively simple to add a drawer if needed. I had no issues installing third party launchers, provided I remembered to change the default launcher to it in the settings.
EMUI contains a very long list of features and optimisations. To put it simply, it is one of the most complete if not overly fruity Android distributions out there. There is a lot to like, and in look and feel it differs from Google’s Android experience quite a lot.
Cameras
The 20MP and 2MP dual-camera setup on the back is impressive for this category of device. In good lighting conditions the pictures were clear and packed plenty of punch. In low light it performed well and with night mode on and small tripod delivers some amazing low light shots.
An AI toggle in the camera interface enables you to allow the Mate 20 Lite to optimise camera settings according to what Huawei’s AI recognises in scene. There are 22 different types of scene which can be detected, and overall I found this useful. Depending on camera mode (AI on or off) there can be some excessive smoothing, but overall most people will find the camera results impressive and ideal for use on social media.
The video recording maxes out at Full HD 1080p at 30fps. For most users this is more than enough and the results are pleasant and carry plenty of detail and have good colour reproduction.
The 24MP and 2MP dual-selfie camera setup is ideal for Snapchat or Instagram sotries and provides a slew of filters, overlays as well as 3D Qmojis which replicate your face and expressions in cartoonish characters. If you go for more traditional selfies, it is a good camera once you find your preferred beautification levels. Portrait mode is the best in this smartphone category.
EMUI features of the camera, such as AI and Qmoji are definitely a feature which adds value to this premium mid-range device.
If there were one change I could make to the device, it would affect two features: an increased battery, maybe an extra 500 mAh, which would also make it slightly thicker and do away with the protruding camera modules on the back. Apart from that it is my personal opinion that Huawei’s team have put together an excellent product which as part of the overall Mate 20 series push will perform very well in its market segment.
Overall the Huawei Mate 20 Lite is an excellent device for the premium mid-range segment it sits in: plenty of power, good battery life, capable cameras and an overall premium experience and ergonomics.
At time of writing, the Huawei Mate 20 Lite retails for £379 SIM free or on a pay as you go basis in the UK. This equates to approximately 400 Euro or 500 US Dollars. For that you not only get a good value smartphone, but the looks and brand power Huawei is starting to be well known and admired for.
As we opened this review, I shall close it: the Huawei Mate 20 Lite is 6.3” tease for what is to come. If you are not really too fussed about spending a large sum of money on the best devices on the market, but still want a good smartphone which will perform well and satisfy most user needs, the Huawei Mate 20 Lite is a good option to consider.
I also took the Huawei Mate 20 Lite onto All About Android on TWiT TV. Below you will find a video of my review while I was in the studio and one of our unboxing.